The Mozambican state collected around 5.4 billion dollars (344.8 billion meticals) in taxes over the course of 2024, reaching 89.9 per cent of the annual target, according to the Balance of the Economic and Social Plan and State Budget (BdPESOE) 2024. This figure represents nominal growth of 5.24 per cent over the previous year.
According to BdPESOE, consulted on Wednesday (5), taxes on income and on goods and services were the main sources of revenue, with emphasis on the 2.4 billion dollars (155 billion meticals) collected in taxes on income and 1.8 billion dollars (118.2 billion meticals) from taxes on goods and services.
Value Added Tax (VAT) totalled 1.4 billion dollars (91.4 billion meticals), resulting in a net value of 1.2 billion dollars (76.3 billion meticals) after deductions.
VAT collection on domestic operations totalled 514.6 million dollars (32.8 billion meticals), corresponding to 81.4% of the annual target and registering nominal growth of 9.1% over the previous year. VAT on imports totalled 684.7 million dollars (43.6 billion meticals), representing 82.8 percent of the annual forecast and a significant increase of 30.5 percent compared to 2023.
Foreign Trade Taxes, such as Customs Duties and the Surcharge, collected 333.2 million dollars (21.2 billion meticals), reaching 90.1 per cent of the annual target, although they showed a nominal decrease of 41.8 per cent compared to the previous year, justified by the increase in imports of exempt goods.
Specific Consumption Tax had a mixed performance. Tax on domestic production of tobacco, beer and other alcoholic beverages collected 98.8 million dollars (6.3 billion meticals), representing 49 per cent of the annual target and a 16 per cent drop compared to 2023. The tax on imported products totalled 105 million dollars (6.7 billion meticals), reaching only 26.5% of the annual forecast, with a decrease of 26.6% compared to the previous year.
The Other National Taxes group, which includes stamp taxes, vehicle taxes, national reconstruction taxes, taxes on small taxpayers, royalties and other taxes, collected 115.7 million dollars (7.4 billion meticals), equivalent to 89.7 per cent of the annual target, but with a decrease of 5.6 per cent compared to the previous year.
In this group, taxes on oil and mining production and the fuel levy reached 377.4 million dollars (24.1 billion meticals), exceeding the annual forecast with a realisation of 112.2% and significant growth.
‘Budget execution was affected by various factors, including the effects of the El Niño phenomenon’
Although revenue collection fell short of the annual target of 6 billion dollars (383.5 billion meticals), the fiscal performance allowed the government to maintain enough Net International Reserves (NIR) to cover five months of imports of goods and non-factorial services, excluding megaprojects.
The BdPESOE 2024 reveals that public spending totalled 7.7 billion dollars (493.5 billion meticals), equivalent to 86.9 percent of the annual forecast of 8.9 billion dollars (567.8 billion meticals).
Budget execution was affected by various factors, including the effects of the El Niño phenomenon, which affected agricultural production, and tropical storm Filipo, which caused flooding and damage to infrastructure.
The Mozambican economy showed accumulated growth of 1.85 per cent, below the initial projection of 5.5 per cent, according to data from the National Statistics Institute (INE).
The economic slowdown was influenced by the reduction in activity in the mining industry, which recorded a negative variation of -10.06 per cent, and in the manufacturing industry, which fell by 11.14 per cent. The transport and communications sector also fell, with a reduction of 7.63%.
However, the agricultural sector grew by 1.64 per cent, driven by an increase in cereal and legume production. Trade and repair services was another segment that suffered a negative impact, registering a variation of -10.64 per cent.
The report points out that despite the challenges of 2024, the government intends to strengthen tax collection and budget execution in 2025. Among the measures planned are strengthening tax management, modernising collection systems and implementing reforms to broaden the tax base.
Tax collection continues to be one of the state’s main instruments for financing public policies, infrastructure and social programmes. Performance in 2025 will depend on economic growth, resource mobilisation strategies and internal and external macroeconomic conditions.
Text: Felisberto Ruco
